Yep…Akai won’t do that! The price would have to about $399 with half the features! At that point just buy the bigger models! Now if it’s $ 299 that changes things!
I love my mk2 would never get rid of it. I just love the simplicity of doing everything into the one box. A real box of tricks for me, and I’ve not even touched dj mode.
I think the beauty of the SP404 is that it not only sounds good, the timing is also rock solid. And... ( I say this as someone who's owned multi MPC's from a 60, to the 3000 and 2000xl ) I'm just not feeling that on the newer MPC's.
Back when this came out, the 1str version, I saw it at every single indie electronic music rave I went to. I saw at least 6 DJs using this thing alone for performance. So I'm not surprised the mk II is starting to have the same effect!
I believe the reason sp 404 mk2 is not as good as the competition is also the reason I stopped using it. I was not discouraged by the many shortcuts and the constant use of shift, but I was totally put off by the very bad real time recording functions. 404mk2 has to stop every time it samples. Stop the sequencer, stop all sounds, and then you have to wait for the device to process the new sample for a few (or more) seconds. The lack of a looper is also connected to the above inconvenience. How to loop when you cannot sample in real-time? If mk2 was released in 2000, I would not complain, that's how most samplers were back then, mk1 included. But in 2023 and with all the market options, sp 404mk2 seems half-baked and below par, just because it's having a very bad workflow for sampling.
People are sampling and making banging beats in the 404 mk2 just fine with its current state. It's perfectly fine in my opinion and I honestly have more fun using the 404 mk2 than I do using my MPC One. I have every single plugin released for the modern MPCs and I still find myself learning over my 404 mk2 more often than not. It's an amazing device for the price. You CAN sample into it you can do your vocals with it and they sound very good. I plugged my Shure SM58 into it recently for the first time and I was surprised at how good my voice sounded after recording it to a pad. With the chain pattern mode, i could do a whole track on the 404 mk2 with vocals included and just record it into audacity or something like that. For myself and a ton of other people, the 404 mk2 is the perfect little sequencer sampler....
@@GODInTheWax444 Not you. My comment was meant for the original poster. These dudes out here just want a box with a "press to make hit record button on it". The ish is laughable and sad at the same time.
@@WaxDat8800 I wasn't coming at you bro. I was genuinely curious whose comment you were addressing. I hear you about people wanting the device to do all the work. You have to learn the device, have musical knowledge and THEN on top of that you have to be creative enough to make something someone could listen to for a few minutes. It's not easy but the journey is supposed to be fun and rewarding. I've come a long way from the beats I used to make when I first started and I'm learning every day. It's about the journey and cats fail to realize that....
Roland is on a roll! I have to disagree on their pricing for the Stones Throw Edition near 1K plus tax. I hope that Roland & Stones Throw Records collaborate on selling faceplate, vinyl record & cassette for previous 404 MK2 owners like me. I don’t see paying nearly 1K for any device. It’s unfair tactics on their part. Great video content!
Just a heads up my shift button is starting to go out… I’m waiting to hear back from Roland to see about a repair/ replacement But with all the shift command shortcuts it’s definitely used quite often! Mine works once every 3-6 times I attempt a shift command. Hopefully this can be resolved since I’ve had it for one year and the factory warranty covers 2 years. In retrospect it would have made more sense to be switched with the roll button since it’s a bit larger, but just a heads up! Hopefully this can be resolved fairly easily although it’s been about a week since I inquired about a membrane replacement or repair. Wish me luck!
I like my sp404mk2 but the workflow just throws me off every time. The button combos are confusing, too much menu diving. Just gotta make the workflow a bit more efficient and we’re good.
curious how long have you been using it. I find it (after 9 months) really easy to use. I am pretty I am ont aware of all the shortcut's, there are so many, but I know the one that matters to my workflow. I ll released two tracks entirely made on the sp in a few days and that's the first time I am able to do something outside of a daw.
I think the Liven LoFi-12 and the new LoFi-6 are huge problems for other companies because of how powerful they are and both are under $300. These 2 drum machines are being highly slept on right now. I’d love to see @SampleKings do a review on them
The ONLY reason I don't own an SP-404 mk2 is because its USB audio isn't compatible with a current MPC (live II) like an SP-555 is. If there is ever an update that makes that happen... I'll buy it on the spot.
@@boimesa8190 The USB audio protocol for the 404 MKII is 48kHz at 24 bits. The USB audio protocol for the MPC is 44.1 kHz. Since those values don’t match you have to use an analog audio cable, a MIDI cable AND a power cable, instead of a single cable for audio, MIDI, and power… All because the 404’s USB audio doesn’t allow a setting of 44.1 kHz (The 404 could come down, there’s no guarantee the MPC can go up to 48 kHz). By comparison the sp-555 can handle 44.1 kHz. So I can connect my MPC to it with one cable. I retrofit a battery and a charging circuit in the 555 so that I can power it through the USB cable. This allows me to use a single cable to connect my 555 to my MPC (One, One+, Live, Live II, X) for power, MIDI, and USB audio.
Akai has spent a lot of money releasing versions of the same thing. It is not very interesting to see the same thing with 37, 61 keys, different limited edition colors and then those same customizations are sold in the MPCSTUFF store. I don't understand why Akai puts so many repeated things that cause the same problems. The SP404mk2 is the result of work decades ago, since the SP202 things began to be a very interesting tool. It was a great optimization, and the SP404 came out in 2017, while the first was the Boss SP-202 in 1998, yes that was the first SP of the entire range and it was already great for launching things live for DJs, it was cheap and very useful. But Roland took this machine that sold a lot in the 2000s, it also became an object of old school desire in the 2010s and Roland studied the success a lot, to give it versions like 303, 505, 404, 808... until the SP404 It turned out to be the most successful and successful since 2017. SP404 A from the Aira range was a failure because they only put a different skin, so those who had the SP404 SX did not need the SP404 A and that was a waste of Roland's time and money. They were forced to give the machine a 360 degree turn and turned it into a pocket MPC, with very good details such as quality rubber buttons with backlighting, good construction with resistant plastic and a metal panel with a glass screen where only It is a machine for manipulating audio. Here the SP404 mk2 is successful in that, a machine that does not have plugins, but that takes advantage of USB-C to connect an iPhone, iPad or Android, to sample anything from a device that outputs audio via USB. The SP404 mk2 is also a 16 bit 48khz audio/midi interface and can make a good combination with a macbook with logic pro, a simple, direct, uncomplicated workstation, portable with batteries, with FX to manipulate anything in time real, it has VOCODER!... (and other cool things) It does not surprise me that the success of the machine is so great because its price, also for everything they have improved on the machine, is unbeatable.
Akai really needs to just improve their app on iPad and make better software and continue improving specs on their existing hardware making it more like their old samplers with bit rate adjustments and faster processors etc.
Stones throw edition they tripping pay hundreds more for color. same with the new elektrons or the akai color ways or Sonicware charging more for throwback edition’s. This has to stop 🛑 but the workflow on the mk2 is way worse then the SX or A they just needed to update a few things on the SX and it would have been epic. They made it to complicated and now it’s just a fx box Roland SH-4d though now where talking a proper groovebox.
Lol I don't know why I have 202 303 and 404 a but when the 404 mk2 came out it lost its appeal to me I like the older ones better and when they came out with the mk2 I just went and brought a MPC One and a MPC Live 2 and another SP 404a but the 404 mk2 still hasn't appealed to me and I don't think it ever will I'm waiting for the mk3 to come out hopefully they don't screw it up like they did with the mk2 in my opinion it made me go buy a MPC for the first time but I will admit I like the 202 303 and 404 better than the MPC except for the limitations that's why I got the MPC the 404 is limited when using many sounds
There is a lot I love about the MK2, but it can also be frustrating at times. I tend to make more experimental music using the SP. I can't use it to produce albums for artists when I get commissioned for that task, though. It can be a tool in the process, but it doesn't stand up to that task. Neither does the MPC, though. In fact the MPC offers even less. Plus, if an MPC mini comes out and has the same terrible software I'm still uninterested and the SP remains my only hardware sampler haha.
The perceived success of this device is overrated. As a production device, it falls seriously short against the likes of an MPC One or MPC Live 2. And if you see it in combo with these MPCs you almost always see it just in a degenerated role as an overly expensive FX device only. And with the latest excellent FX plugins on the MPC, you can argue that you don't even need a SP404MK2 anymore for your effects. When it comes to workflow it's even worse than the MPC, forcing you to learn all kinds of exotic key combos to get stuff done. Its portability is what makes it really stand out but even then the MPC Live 2 offers you that, be it with a bigger footprint.
Using it exclusively as an efx unit is fine but if someone is just using it as an excuse to not learning the machine then that’s when it becomes overpriced.
By that logic you don't need an MPC, being that it is still in the stone age compared to a PC. The cheapest 300 dollar laptop from wally world would run circles around any device out. The SP and MPC are two completely different devices geared for two completely different markets and if we're talking about workflow, which is MPC's talking point, the SP blows it out the water as far as immediacy and speed, other than chopping. I own both. Two versions of the new MPC. It's an apples and oranges discussion.
@@badboy69cancer We're talking standalone beatmaking machines here and with the MPC One being only 200 euro more expensive, you can definitely compare these machines. And both devices aren't particularly intuitive if you're coming from a regular DAW. But you definitely hear people complaining about the SP404MK2's workflow the most.
I like the sp because I don’t have to menu dive. It’s easy to record and get an idea started. If your not a perfectionist and love accidents. It’s perfect. Then I take it to the daw and that’s it. I have the Mpc one. I hate it. I hate the menu. I hate having to go through different screens to do something. The user interface is clunky. I’m trying to get rid of mine but there’s such a low demand for them in the used market
@@dallasphill In a vacuum, competition is great. This is the real world and good companies with honest crew and leadership making good craft don't survive. The most brutal businessman running the show does. It's why Bheringer somehow ended up with a collection of zombie IPs they're ripping off left and right now...cause they in the music business, they're _just_ in business.
that mpc mini is a myth at this point
Yep…Akai won’t do that! The price would have to about $399 with half the features! At that point just buy the bigger models! Now if it’s $ 299 that changes things!
I think AKAI just tryna keep our attention with myths like these just to subvert expectations 😂😂
I love my mk2 would never get rid of it. I just love the simplicity of doing everything into the one box. A real box of tricks for me, and I’ve not even touched dj mode.
Yup it's a keeper
I think the beauty of the SP404 is that it not only sounds good, the timing is also rock solid. And... ( I say this as someone who's owned multi MPC's from a 60, to the 3000 and 2000xl ) I'm just not feeling that on the newer MPC's.
You can also plug in a external battery pack and become portable as well i chose this route because i hate changing double a batteries lol
That voice, heard first time learning my s950. Guy is a legend
Thanks Bro.
Back when this came out, the 1str version, I saw it at every single indie electronic music rave I went to. I saw at least 6 DJs using this thing alone for performance. So I'm not surprised the mk II is starting to have the same effect!
Right it's everywhere.
Its a great machine once you learn it fully. I dont think im getting rid mine anytime soon lol
You got that right!
I believe the reason sp 404 mk2 is not as good as the competition is also the reason I stopped using it.
I was not discouraged by the many shortcuts and the constant use of shift, but I was totally put off by the very bad real time recording functions.
404mk2 has to stop every time it samples.
Stop the sequencer, stop all sounds, and then you have to wait for the device to process the new sample for a few (or more) seconds.
The lack of a looper is also connected to the above inconvenience.
How to loop when you cannot sample in real-time?
If mk2 was released in 2000, I would not complain, that's how most samplers were back then, mk1 included.
But in 2023 and with all the market options, sp 404mk2 seems half-baked and below par, just because it's having a very bad workflow for sampling.
People are sampling and making banging beats in the 404 mk2 just fine with its current state. It's perfectly fine in my opinion and I honestly have more fun using the 404 mk2 than I do using my MPC One. I have every single plugin released for the modern MPCs and I still find myself learning over my 404 mk2 more often than not. It's an amazing device for the price. You CAN sample into it you can do your vocals with it and they sound very good. I plugged my Shure SM58 into it recently for the first time and I was surprised at how good my voice sounded after recording it to a pad. With the chain pattern mode, i could do a whole track on the 404 mk2 with vocals included and just record it into audacity or something like that. For myself and a ton of other people, the 404 mk2 is the perfect little sequencer sampler....
Where is the punch line because this has to be a joke somehow😂😂😂😂
@@WaxDat8800 Who are you talking to fam? Me or him?
@@GODInTheWax444 Not you. My comment was meant for the original poster. These dudes out here just want a box with a "press to make hit record button on it". The ish is laughable and sad at the same time.
@@WaxDat8800 I wasn't coming at you bro. I was genuinely curious whose comment you were addressing. I hear you about people wanting the device to do all the work. You have to learn the device, have musical knowledge and THEN on top of that you have to be creative enough to make something someone could listen to for a few minutes. It's not easy but the journey is supposed to be fun and rewarding. I've come a long way from the beats I used to make when I first started and I'm learning every day. It's about the journey and cats fail to realize that....
Roland is on a roll! I have to disagree on their pricing for the Stones Throw Edition near 1K plus tax. I hope that Roland & Stones Throw Records collaborate on selling faceplate, vinyl record & cassette for previous 404 MK2 owners like me. I don’t see paying nearly 1K for any device. It’s unfair tactics on their part. Great video content!
Just a heads up my shift button is starting to go out… I’m waiting to hear back from Roland to see about a repair/ replacement
But with all the shift command shortcuts it’s definitely used quite often! Mine works once every 3-6 times I attempt a shift command. Hopefully this can be resolved since I’ve had it for one year and the factory warranty covers 2 years.
In retrospect it would have made more sense to be switched with the roll button since it’s a bit larger, but just a heads up!
Hopefully this can be resolved fairly easily although it’s been about a week since I inquired about a membrane replacement or repair. Wish me luck!
I like my sp404mk2 but the workflow just throws me off every time. The button combos are confusing, too much menu diving.
Just gotta make the workflow a bit more efficient and we’re good.
curious how long have you been using it. I find it (after 9 months) really easy to use. I am pretty I am ont aware of all the shortcut's, there are so many, but I know the one that matters to my workflow. I ll released two tracks entirely made on the sp in a few days and that's the first time I am able to do something outside of a daw.
I think the Liven LoFi-12 and the new LoFi-6 are huge problems for other companies because of how powerful they are and both are under $300. These 2 drum machines are being highly slept on right now. I’d love to see @SampleKings do a review on them
Go look at the LoFi 12 XT. It’s basically an SP-555 WITH batteries.
The ONLY reason I don't own an SP-404 mk2 is because its USB audio isn't compatible with a current MPC (live II) like an SP-555 is. If there is ever an update that makes that happen... I'll buy it on the spot.
Sorry what?
@@boimesa8190 The USB audio protocol for the 404 MKII is 48kHz at 24 bits. The USB audio protocol for the MPC is 44.1 kHz. Since those values don’t match you have to use an analog audio cable, a MIDI cable AND a power cable, instead of a single cable for audio, MIDI, and power…
All because the 404’s USB audio doesn’t allow a setting of 44.1 kHz (The 404 could come down, there’s no guarantee the MPC can go up to 48 kHz).
By comparison the sp-555 can handle 44.1 kHz. So I can connect my MPC to it with one cable. I retrofit a battery and a charging circuit in the 555 so that I can power it through the USB cable. This allows me to use a single cable to connect my 555 to my MPC (One, One+, Live, Live II, X) for power, MIDI, and USB audio.
Sp404mk2 has a class compliant mode meanwhile 555 not AFAIK... are you talking about this?
@@dubbylabby6068 the 555 is usb audio class compliant at 44.1 kHz. It works great with the MPC. The 404 mkII does not work at 44.1 kHz.
Akai has spent a lot of money releasing versions of the same thing.
It is not very interesting to see the same thing with 37, 61 keys, different limited edition colors and then those same customizations are sold in the MPCSTUFF store.
I don't understand why Akai puts so many repeated things that cause the same problems.
The SP404mk2 is the result of work decades ago, since the SP202 things began to be a very interesting tool.
It was a great optimization, and the SP404 came out in 2017, while the first was the Boss SP-202 in 1998, yes that was the first SP of the entire range and it was already great for launching things live for DJs, it was cheap and very useful.
But Roland took this machine that sold a lot in the 2000s, it also became an object of old school desire in the 2010s and Roland studied the success a lot, to give it versions like 303, 505, 404, 808... until the SP404 It turned out to be the most successful and successful since 2017.
SP404 A from the Aira range was a failure because they only put a different skin, so those who had the SP404 SX did not need the SP404 A and that was a waste of Roland's time and money.
They were forced to give the machine a 360 degree turn and turned it into a pocket MPC, with very good details such as quality rubber buttons with backlighting, good construction with resistant plastic and a metal panel with a glass screen where only It is a machine for manipulating audio.
Here the SP404 mk2 is successful in that, a machine that does not have plugins, but that takes advantage of USB-C to connect an iPhone, iPad or Android, to sample anything from a device that outputs audio via USB.
The SP404 mk2 is also a 16 bit 48khz audio/midi interface and can make a good combination with a macbook with logic pro, a simple, direct, uncomplicated workstation, portable with batteries, with FX to manipulate anything in time real, it has VOCODER!... (and other cool things)
It does not surprise me that the success of the machine is so great because its price, also for everything they have improved on the machine, is unbeatable.
Main issue, not being able to preview sounds while a sequence is playing.
If they ever work out how to merge patterns, it’s game over.
sub pad allow you to preview no ?
How do you feel about the ko II? And would you recommend someone the sp 404 mk2 whos interested in live improv beat making?
SP404 MK II will work for live improv have not gotten my hands on the ko II yet.
Akai really needs to just improve their app on iPad and make better software and continue improving specs on their existing hardware making it more like their old samplers with bit rate adjustments and faster processors etc.
That korg joint garbage 🗑 has no sequencer
It's just code you can write it in if it's works as is.
@@SampleKingsVideos They gonna need the 🔑 master who wrote the code in the matrix to get that joint poppin .
Stones throw edition they tripping pay hundreds more for color. same with the new elektrons or the akai color ways or Sonicware charging more for throwback edition’s. This has to stop 🛑 but the workflow on the mk2 is way worse then the SX or A they just needed to update a few things on the SX and it would have been epic. They made it to complicated and now it’s just a fx box Roland SH-4d though now where talking a proper groovebox.
what is tht pedal being used at 3:08 next to the mk2
To trigger sounds and I thing to start record or play.
Dub siren...
Won't be buying the mk2 it's ugly I'm waiting for the mk3 lol
Lol I don't know why I have 202 303 and 404 a but when the 404 mk2 came out it lost its appeal to me I like the older ones better and when they came out with the mk2 I just went and brought a MPC One and a MPC Live 2 and another SP 404a but the 404 mk2 still hasn't appealed to me and I don't think it ever will I'm waiting for the mk3 to come out hopefully they don't screw it up like they did with the mk2 in my opinion it made me go buy a MPC for the first time but I will admit I like the 202 303 and 404 better than the MPC except for the limitations that's why I got the MPC the 404 is limited when using many sounds
1:04 Except for the fact that the Kaoss is twice as expensive as it should be...
It does cost
Great Maschine 🔥
Right.
SP404 IS TAKEN OVER
Since Nov 2021!
Akai is also coming out with an mpc key in a 37 key format
we hope so that might sell big
Roland!
I ❤ my mkii but I also hate it. I'm a grown man with a family. I don't have the time for diving into gear like I use too.
There is a lot I love about the MK2, but it can also be frustrating at times. I tend to make more experimental music using the SP. I can't use it to produce albums for artists when I get commissioned for that task, though. It can be a tool in the process, but it doesn't stand up to that task. Neither does the MPC, though. In fact the MPC offers even less. Plus, if an MPC mini comes out and has the same terrible software I'm still uninterested and the SP remains my only hardware sampler haha.
Then Teenage Engineering came with the KO 2 and drove the world crazy
Word
They (TE) sold out so that's when I bought the SP404MK2....not disappointed in the least.
Koala sampler on an iPad or iPad mini
👑👑👑👑👑👑
Terrible user interface, and too many shortcuts, just not intuitive enough for the average people, holding for an mpc mini ❤
The user interface is actually great and very powerful, just has a steeper learning curve
Get an older mpc to sequence it. Theres nothing better.
@xlo2335 you have one? If it’s not shut up lil bigga
Roland did such a good job even MPC users have been buying it. Soon the battle for this space will heat up.
@@SampleKingsVideos Agreed, I think Roland did a really great job especially considering the price and the space is boomin
The perceived success of this device is overrated. As a production device, it falls seriously short against the likes of an MPC One or MPC Live 2. And if you see it in combo with these MPCs you almost always see it just in a degenerated role as an overly expensive FX device only. And with the latest excellent FX plugins on the MPC, you can argue that you don't even need a SP404MK2 anymore for your effects.
When it comes to workflow it's even worse than the MPC, forcing you to learn all kinds of exotic key combos to get stuff done. Its portability is what makes it really stand out but even then the MPC Live 2 offers you that, be it with a bigger footprint.
Using it exclusively as an efx unit is fine but if someone is just using it as an excuse to not learning the machine then that’s when it becomes overpriced.
Well yeah, but both mashines and MPCs are almost always double the price sooo...why complain that it's not better.
By that logic you don't need an MPC, being that it is still in the stone age compared to a PC. The cheapest 300 dollar laptop from wally world would run circles around any device out. The SP and MPC are two completely different devices geared for two completely different markets and if we're talking about workflow, which is MPC's talking point, the SP blows it out the water as far as immediacy and speed, other than chopping. I own both. Two versions of the new MPC. It's an apples and oranges discussion.
@@badboy69cancer We're talking standalone beatmaking machines here and with the MPC One being only 200 euro more expensive, you can definitely compare these machines. And both devices aren't particularly intuitive if you're coming from a regular DAW. But you definitely hear people complaining about the SP404MK2's workflow the most.
I like the sp because I don’t have to menu dive. It’s easy to record and get an idea started. If your not a perfectionist and love accidents. It’s perfect. Then I take it to the daw and that’s it.
I have the Mpc one. I hate it. I hate the menu. I hate having to go through different screens to do something. The user interface is clunky.
I’m trying to get rid of mine but there’s such a low demand for them in the used market
I’m not a fan
Saturation is not a good thing.
saturation is good in the analog world
competition is!!!
@@dallasphill In a vacuum, competition is great. This is the real world and good companies with honest crew and leadership making good craft don't survive. The most brutal businessman running the show does. It's why Bheringer somehow ended up with a collection of zombie IPs they're ripping off left and right now...cause they in the music business, they're _just_ in business.